THE MINERAL SPRINGS OF SARATOGA. 



29 



the gas between the roof of the cavity and the surface of the accumu- 

 lating water ; when the force of the compression reaches its maxi- 

 mum, it drives the water from the chamber up through the tube, from 

 which it escapes in some instances to a distance of thirty feet in a ver- 



Fig. 3. 



'Miji^'^mm^m 



'tl^i^:^''mf:0i^^ 



tical direction. After the pent-up water and gas have escaped, the 

 spouting ceases for a short time until the conditions are favorable for 

 its repetition, when the process is continued. The springs secured by 

 this method are the Yichy, Geyser, Champion, Kissingen, and the so- 

 called magnetic. In depth they vary from fifty to three hundred feet. 

 So far as the temperature of the springs is concerned they are practi- 

 cally isothermal, the maximum being 52 and the minimum 40 Fahr. ; 

 and in no instance are they affected by external causes, both their flow 

 and temperature being uniform throughout the year. From the fact 

 that the perpendicular iron tubes, through which the waters flow from 

 certain wells, are capable of communicating magnetic properties to 

 steel, the term magnetic springs has been applied to them in various 

 sections of the country. Notwithstanding assertions to the contrary, 

 the water from such springs has been pronounced totally devoid of 

 any properties of a magnetic character by those who have investigated 

 this phenomenon. All of the magnetic properties connected with such 

 springs reside in the iron tubing, which becomes magnetic when placed 

 in the ground in a vertical position in localities where the conditions 

 are favorable ; this result is said to be more likely to be attained if 

 the tube is inclined a few degrees to the north. 



